Folded seat stamped out of a sheet

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a folding seat ( 1 ) with back support ( 2 ) which can be made by folding and gluing operations of different parts composed of a sheet of cardboard ( 3 ).

INTRODUCTION

The present invention relates to a seat with back support. More specifically, the invention relates to a seat stamped out of a sheet of cardboard consisting of parts which are folded along fold lines and glued so as to produce a folding seat with back support. The invention is intended for use at festivals and the like.

PRIOR ART

Participating in festivals requires a great deal of standing and sitting on the ground. This may result in both the back and legs becoming tired. In order to rest the back, it is an advantage to have a seat device with back support.

Seat devices intended for festivals can be found in the form of deckchairs and other folding chairs. Storing these chairs requires a relatively large space, and even though the weight per chair is not necessarily so very great, a large number of chairs will represent a considerable weight.

There is a need for a type of seat device which is light and easy to move, and where a substantial number can be stored in as small a space as possible. The seat device, moreover, should be easy and inexpensive to produce.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,782 describes how a seat can be made from cardboard. This seat has several drawbacks, one of which is that it is relatively flimsy and therefore unable to stand the strain when one leans against the back support for a long period. Furthermore the user is required to perform several folding and fastening operations in order to arrange the seat as it is intended to be used.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,854 describes a seat which has a back support that will stand more weight, and will be better suited for leaning against than the seat described in the previous paragraph. Nevertheless it is not particularly suitable for use at arrangements where a great many people are gathered, since the part that holds up the back support is exposed to blows or kicks which may cause the back support to give way.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and describes a folding seat device in the form of a seat with a solid back support.

During production of a seat according to the present invention, a stamped-out piece of cardboard is folded along fold lines and glue is applied to some parts in order to form a seat with a back support. After this, the chair is folded up so that it becomes completely flat and thereby suitable for stacking, storage and transport.

Transportation, storage and handling of such seats will be a matter of simply bundling stacks of cardboard sheets together.

Thus when the seat has to be put to use, only one simple operation is required to set it up.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention describes a seat with back support which is made of a sheet of cardboard stamped out in one piece which is folded along fold lines and glued so that the seat is formed by means of folding and gluing operations.

The inventive feature of the seat is that it can be converted from a folded to an unfolded state by means of one folding operation. This is made possible by side members which have a fold line that causes the side members to be folded in between a back support and a rear panel, and moreover that a part of an underside located between the back support and the rear panel has a fold line that causes it to be unfolded from the two last-mentioned parts when the seat is folded up.

The seat has a high reuse value and is particularly well suited for use at concerts and festivals held outdoors.

The invention also describes how to fold and glue different parts of a sheet of cardboard in order to provide a seat according to the invention.

The inventive features are further described in the independent claims in the following set of claims. More detailed features are indicated in the dependent claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the figures, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a stamped-out cardboard sheet with a shape which forms the basis for making the seat according to the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates the unfolded seat viewed partly from behind;

FIG. 3 illustrates the folded seat viewed from the side, and

FIG. 4 illustrates details in a folded seat.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a basis for making a seat 1. Here we see the shape of a blank stamped out of a sheet of cardboard 3, where the different parts are defined by dividing lines that facilitate folding and gluing the parts in order to turn the cardboard sheet 3 into a seat 1 according to the invention. The letters indicate fold lines which are described in more detail below.

As already mentioned, the seat 1 with back support 2 is made of a sheet of cardboard 3 stamped out in one piece which is folded along fold lines, thereby forming the seat 1 by means of folding and gluing operations. The cardboard sheet 3 comprises a plurality of parts which are interconnected at the fold lines, and where the parts comprise a sitting surface 8, a back support 2, two side members 5, 5′, a rear panel 9 and an underside 6.

In a preferred embodiment the seat 1 can be converted from a folded to an unfolded state by one folding operation which is made possible by the side members 5, 5′ having a fold line which causes the side members 5, 5′ to be folded in between the back support 2 and the rear plate 9, and moreover the part of the underside 6 located between the back support 2 and the rear panel 9 has a fold line that causes it to be unfolded from the two last-mentioned parts when the seat 1 is folded up. Small grooves 7, 7′ are preferably made in the cardboard sheet 3 in order to ease the load at a stress point. The grooves 7, 7′ are in the form of a curve in order to distribute the forces outwards in the transition between the sitting surface 8 and the back support 2.

The cardboard sheet is further provided with a handle 10 and a flap 11 for inserting in a groove 12 which will be described in greater detail below.

In FIG. 1, as already mentioned, the letters A to D indicate fold lines, and each letter describes how the different surfaces bordering on the fold lines should be folded in order to assemble a seat according to the invention, and in order to open or fold up the seat.

The letters A and B indicate folding operations required to make the seat by means of folding and gluing operations. A indicates that the surfaces bordering on this fold line are folded up from the paper plane, and B indicates that the surfaces bordering on this fold line are folded down in the paper plane.

One of the side members 5 has a fold line that forms a first locking part 4 which is glued to the lateral edge of the rear panel 9. The bottom part of the sitting surface 8 has a lower part 13, with a second locking part 14, both of which are glued to the underside of the sitting surface 8. The groove 12 is stamped out and forms a part of the locking mechanism when the seat is folded up. The locking part 14 is preferably glued to the underside of the sitting surface 8, close against and flush with the edge of the underside 6 which is also glued to the underside of the sitting surface 8.

FIG. 2 illustrates the seat that results when the folding operations A and B as well as the gluing described above have been completed. The seat is then operative in the sense that it can be used to sit on.

In order to increase the stability and rigidity of the seat 1, in a preferred embodiment parts of the underside 6 are glued to the underside of the sitting surface 8.

In order to produce a folding seat 1 with back support 2 by means of a sheet of cardboard 3 stamped out in one piece with parts and fold lines as described above, the parts are folded along the fold lines A and B so that the side members 5, 5′ are at 90° to the back support 2 and the rear panel 9. Furthermore a first locking part 4 in one side member 5 is glued to the lateral edge of the rear panel 9, thereby forming a cavity between the back support 2, the rear panel 9 and the side members 5, 5′. The underside 6 is at around 60° to the rear panel 9 and the back support 2, thereby closing the said cavity. Finally, a lower part 13, which is at 180° to the sitting surface 8, is glued with a second locking part 14 to the underside 6.

The letters C and D in FIGS. 1 and 2 indicate folding operations required for opening and folding up the operative seat. C indicates that the surfaces bordering on this fold line are folded up from the paper plane, and D indicates that the surfaces bordering on this fold line are folded down in the paper plane.

When the back support 2 and the rear panel 9 are pressed against each other, the side walls are folded in between the back support 2 and the rear panel 9. Furthermore, the part of the underside 6 located between the back support 2 and the rear panel 9 is folded out from the last-mentioned surfaces. The next operation is to pivot the sitting surface 8 down and round the rear panel 9 in the direction of the arrow and round the axis of the fold line indicated by the broken line in FIG. 2. This operation will cause the part of the underside 6 located between the back support 2 and the rear panel 9 to be folded in the same direction, with the result that it will be located between the rear panel 9 and the underside 6 (which is glued to the underside of the sitting surface 8) when the two last-mentioned parts are pressed closely together.

FIG. 3 illustrates the seat 1 in a folded state with parts of the underside 6 located between the rear panel 9 and the underside 6 which is glued to the underside of the sitting surface 8. In the figure there is also illustrated a protuberance 15 marking the edge of the groove 12 shown in FIG. 1. The handle 10 for carrying the folded seat is also shown.

FIG. 4 illustrates details of the folded seat, and how the folded position is secured by the seat 1 being provided with a flap 11 in the upper part of the back support 2 and a groove 12 in the lower end of the sitting surface 8 for receiving the flap 11, thereby fastening them to each other.

Even though a specific and preferred embodiment is described in this description, it will be obvious how other designs can be attained without deviating from the concept and scope of the present invention. 

1. A seat foldable from an open state to a closed state, said seat being made of a sheet of cardboard stamped out in one piece, said cardboard sheet comprising a plurality of fold lines arranged such that the cardboard sheet comprises a plurality of parts interconnected at fold lines, the parts being arranged by folding and gluing operations such that the seat comprises ,in the open state, a sitting surface, a back support, a rear panel connected to at least one edge of the back support, two side members intermediate the back support and the rear panel and an underside, at least a portion of which is intermediate the back support and the rear panel, and further wherein the seat can be converted from the open to the folded state by one folding operation by virtue of the side members comprising a fold line which causes the side members to be folded in between the back support and the rear panel when the seat is folded closed, and and further by virtue of the part of the underside located between the back support and the rear panel having a fold line that causes the underside to be folded in between the back support and the rear panel when the seat is folded closed.
 2. A seat according to claim 1, wherein one side member has a fold line that forms a first locking part which is glued to the lateral edge of the rear panel.
 3. A seat according to claim 2, wherein an outer part of the sitting surface comprises a second locking part which is glued to the underside.
 4. A seat according to claim 2, wherein an outer part of the sitting surface comprises a second locking part which is glued to a portion of the sitting surface.
 5. A seat according to claim 2, wherein an outer part of the sitting surface comprises a second locking part which is glued to the underside and to a portion of the sitting surface.
 6. A seat according to claim 1, wherein the underside further comprises a portion that is glued to the underside of the sitting surface in order to increase the stability and rigidity of the seat.
 7. A seat according to claim 1, wherein the cardboard sheet includes a handle which is used for carrying a folded seat.
 8. A seat according to claim 1, wherein the seat is retained in a folded condition by the seat being equipped with a flap in the upper part of the back support and a groove in the lower end of the sitting surface which are adapted to be fastened together when the seat is folded.
 9. A seat according to claim 1, wherein, in the open state: the side members are at 90° to the back support and the rear panel; a first locking part in one side member is glued to the lateral edge of the rear panel, thereby forming a cavity between the back support, the rear panel and the side members; the underside is at around 60° to the rear panel and the back support, thereby closing the said cavity and the underside is glued to the underside of the sitting surface, and a lower part with a second locking part is at 180° to the sitting surface and is glued to the underside of the sitting surface.
 10. A seat according to claim 1, wherein, edges of the back support, rear panel and intermediate underside portion are cojoined to form, when the seat is in the open state, an enclosure having a triangular cross-section, and further wherein the side members are triangular in shape and essentially cover the triangular openings of the enclose formed by the cojoined back support, rear panel and intermediate underside portions.
 11. A planar cardboard sheet, comprising cut outs and fold lines, the cut outs and fold lines arranged to permit assembly by folding and gluing, of a seat according to claim
 1. 12. A planar cardboard sheet according to claim 11, further arranged to permit assembly of a seat according to claim
 2. 13. A planar cardboard sheet according to claim 11, further arranged to permit assembly of a seat according to claim
 3. 14. A planar cardboard sheet according to claim 11, further arranged to permit assembly of a seat according to claim
 4. 15. A planar cardboard sheet according to claim 11, further arranged to permit assembly of a seat according to claim
 5. 16. A planar cardboard sheet according to claim 11, further arranged to permit assembly of a seat according to claim
 6. 17. A planar cardboard sheet according to claim 11, further arranged to permit assembly of a seat according to claim
 7. 18. A planar cardboard sheet according to claim 11, further arranged to permit assembly of a seat according to claim
 8. 19. A planar cardboard sheet according to claim 11, further arranged to permit assembly of a seat according to claim
 9. 20. A planar cardboard sheet according to claim 11, further arranged to permit assembly of a seat according to claim
 10. 